ANGELA KIRBY

 It's March the 20th and the first reading of the pRO tour. I start out early, leaving an hour for the journey, by underground railway, from Fulham to Camden Town and then make the last two hundred yards to the Trinity United Reform Church in Buck Street on foot. I've been looking forward to seeing my old friend Elena Nistor again, and to meeting the other translator, Lavinea Zainea for the first time. I wonder what they make of the rather dingy surroundinngs of the Church, with the pipes of the big old organ looming over the raised platform from where the poems are to be read. The opening-night poets, Philippa Lawrence, Graham Mummery and Carolyn O' Connel, have arrived and an audience slowly gathers, putting coats on seats to reserve their places and forming little groups as friends greet each other and chat, sipping the wine that Ruth and Chris have brought along and buying books. Elena introduces me to Lavinia; it is good to make a new friend. The reading goes well and Elena and Lavinia do a wonderful job of the translations. It is fascinating for us to hear how beautiful the poems sound in Romanian. After the readings there is more talk and more wine before we all make our various ways home, wishing Anne Stewart, Elena and Lavinia good luck for their tour around England.

How quickly the time has gone. Now it is April 2nd and the last event of the pRO tour is taking place at the beautiful Romanian Cultural Centre in Belgrave Square. Anne and her gallant translators are triumphantly back from their travels and are there to greet us. We get a wonderful welcome from our Romanian hosts and once again the wine flows. Slowly the poets and the audience trickles in. I see many familiar faces and good friends, including the well-known poets Alan Brownjohn and Leah Fritz. Tonight it is my turn to read, along with my friends Pat Earnshaw and Ruth O'Callaghan and two poets I have not met before, Louisa Hooper and Kavita Jindal. Looking round I can see that we have all tried to dress up a little, to match the elegance of our surroundings. One by one we four poets take it in turn to read a few poem and to enjoy the strange sensation of hearing them in translation. Once again Elena and Lavinia make them sound rather impressive. We all agree that we owe them both a big debt of gratitude, and also, of course, to Professor Lidia Vianu and Anne Stewart whose co-operation has made the tour and this wonderful evening possible. After spell-bindinging concert given by brilliant young Romanian musicians we say sad farewells but are cheered up a little by the hope of many future meetings and the thought that maybe, one day, we shall meet in Romania. Who knows?